Seeking excuses?

As political sport the Friday 4 November Jakarta demo was generally a crowd-pleaser, though the off-field ending was bad. Hours after the 6pm whistle and with most supporters in their divine white heading home, the hoon minority torched police cars before being teargassed. One man died apparently from an asthma attack, a dozen hospitalised.

With estimates of 150,000 (1.5 per cent of Jakarta’s population) on the streets stoked by firebrands claiming the Deity needs protection from real or imagined insults, the protest against Christian Governor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Purnama could have been far worse.

No gunfire, no bombs and only one shop looted. If correct all credit must go to the religious and civil authorities – particularly the police who used the finer sex to cool conflict.

Prominently placed officers in jilbab (headscarves) showed the cops weren’t faithless. The tactic was less spiritual than carnal. Indonesian policewomen get picked more for beauty than brawn.

The distraction worked with ogling lads taking breaks from fist-thrusting for selfies with the girls in green. During the first round New York Times correspondent Joe Cochrane tweeted:

I think ‘political stunt’ is more accurate. Vast majority of protesters paid teenagers, and not even from Jakarta. No voters. More. Impact on Ahok close to zero. A mere sideshow.

Jokowi was inspecting an airport project while the march was underway. So why use it as an excuse to duck his trip Down Under? His minders may have feared exposure to West Papua independence protesters – but that was always possible.

More likely is that he just changed his mind – he’s well known for no-shows. For all the warm words about the relationship in the interviews before departure he’s no internationalist. The timing was ridiculous coinciding with the US election pushing positive publicity off page and screen.

Friday’s demo was billed as the Islam Defenders’ Front (FPI) grand final spectacular. They promised mayhem but couldn’t deliver.

Their antics are becoming tiresome. Disruptions beyond traffic snarls and flooding are no longer tolerable. They claim holiness but are just pseudo-religious thugs.

Apart from Ahok few have dared challenge the FPI’s legitimacy, which explains their hate. Unfortunately Jokowi’s cancellation gives them status that on current information they don’t deserve.

Columnist Julia Suryakusuma has likened FPI followers to plane passengers preferring an incompetent Muslim pilot than a qualified Christian, even as disaster looms.

Banners at the demo demanding Ahok’s death were exceptional. Most wanted him charged with blasphemy which may well happen. There was nothing against Jokowi who retains widespread support.

Gubernatorial elections will be held in February. A need for President Jokowi to stay at home then might make sense – but not now.

Ahok is smart, tough, loose-tongued, an effective reformer, but hobbled by his Protestant faith and Chinese ethnicity. His main threat is former Education Minister Anies Baswedan, an Islamic intellectual supported by retired General Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra (Greater Indonesia) Party.

The President and Ahok are PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) mates from when Jokowi was governor and Ahok his sidekick.

Jokowi’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has his son Agus Harimurti, 38, in the three-way contest to run the capital. Commentators give the colourless US educated Army major no chance.

Jakarta shenanigans aren’t yet in the Trump-Clinton septic swamp but they are getting smelly. Religion was a cert to smear – the only question was how.

Ahok helped by commenting on a Koranic verse said to prohibit Muslims being led by a kafir (unbeliever). He allegedly used the word dibohongi (lied) giving the FPI a hook to hang an insulter of the Holy Book. It’s since been revealed that the man who transcribed Ahok’s comments made a mistake.

If jailed for blasphemy he’ll be out of the race, so all may not be as it seems on the surface.

In his post match analysis Jokowi praised daytime discipline but condemned faceless ‘political actors’ manipulating the after-hours brawl. This is a timeworn standard like ‘Canberra mandarins’ in Australian politics.

During the demo in 30 degree heat FPI organisers who’d bussed in outsiders handed out thousands of drinks and snacks – but wouldn’t name the donors. SBY reacted furiously to suggestions his Democratic Party was the bankroller.

Three days before kick-off Jokowi went to see Prabowo at his ‘residential retreat’ aka ‘spacious ranch’ in Bogor south of Jakarta.

For those unfamiliar with Indonesian culture the president knocking on his former rival’s gate was bewildering, but to Javanese it made sense. Maintaining harmony and staying polite are essential virtues; Jokowi sought support to hose down possible violence at the demo and lost no votes by taking the initiative.

Prabowo supported calls for calm: “We are a plural country with many tribes, religions and races,” he said. “If we have problems, let’s solve them peacefully.”

Jokowi also got backing from the Indonesia Scholars’ Council (MUI) and the two main Islamic organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah “to maintain unity and guard against those who want to divide the country.”

These meetings helped frame the demo not as a xenophobic rant (though much was) but as democratic expression.

The media tag of Indonesia as the world’s most populous Islamic nation suggests faith rules. However the Republic is not an Islamic state. Secular parties like the PDI-P regularly trounce faith-based contestants.

The biggest flag at the demo was a sportsfield-sized red and white. The country is stable, the leader loved. Cabinet is under control, Parliament passive and the police more professional. Jokowi has even told worried Indonesians in Sydney that Jakarta is safe.

So why no quick call on the neighbours? Doesn’t he like us? Or – snub supreme – maybe he thinks we’re irrelevant.

Australian journalist and author Duncan Graham lives in East Java and writes for the Indonesian media.

5 Responses

Excellent article – except for the concluding paragraph. Widodo simply cancelled his Oz trip to make sure of security at home. It many not have turned out as peaceful, constitutional, and democratic as it has. There was nothing anti-Australia in his cancellation. I think you should retract that last, offensive paragraph.

The political situation in Indonesia is quite serious. There are attempts to incite coup d’etat , picture of Indonesian Military Commander as RI-1 has been circulating for couple days in social media. Someone is spreading rumor that the commander would be replaced. Although it seems the plot is failing because the commander didn’t buy it, but it’s a proof that someone is seriously plotting coup d’etat . A bigger demo is being planned for Nov 25th. Ahok is just an intermediary target, the real target is Jokowi.

Yep. I’ve been posting for almost a week now that there is a coup attempt under way. Jokowi was at an airport, in case he had to make a quick exit. So far most of the miltary seem to still backing him.

Some Chinese Indonesians who remember the 1998 killings may fear the protests against Ahok could repeat history, but they are quite separate issues. The economy and national politics are not in turmoil – the threat is from thugs who came to the 4 November protest determined on a punchup.
Memories of the moves against Soeharto starting when he was out of the country are also offered as reasons Jokowi cancelled his Oz trip. Again the situation is completely different. The second president was a much feared and hated corrupt dictator who had lost his authority – the seventh has approval ratings in the high 60s.
The tragedy is that the cancellation has emboldened the FPI; if a few hoons carrying firecrackers can pull the President off a plane, what’s not possible?
Read Sidney Jones for stern comments about timid leaders: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/why-indonesian-extremists-are-gaining-ground
and John McBeth who reckons Jokowi made the right call: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/jokowis-coming-struggle-religious-extremism-indonesia/

If Ahok doesn’t get charged there will be more protests. Likewise if he gets charged and acquitted – most unlikely with the current state of the law.
Baswedan looks set to be the next governor and he’ll probably do the job well, though he may be seen as Prabowo’s puppet. He’s run a university and a ministry; it would be distressing if he wins not by the quality of his policies but by Ahok being demonised by fanatics.
Security warnings about exercising extreme care also apply to the scuttlebutt swirling through WhatsApp and Twitter. The loonies manufacturing conspiracies to bolster the Trump campaign are amateurs in the Internet’s dark arts compared with Indonesia’s keyboard crooks who add prophecies, curses and black magic to the mix. Never accept a dull fact when there’s an entertaining rumour available.

I disagree with your view of Baswedan. He most likely won’t win, if he can’t get past the first round. He is polling last. Baswedan isn;’t a puppet of Prabowo. Prabowo only put him in, because he didn’t want to support Agus. Prabowo doesn’t particularly care if Baswaden wins or not, because Uno is the one providing all the money for the race.

Secondly, why do you assume he will do a good job. The university he was a rector was a third rate university. And his was fired from the Education Ministry because he did a poor job, not because he was “popular”. This is the type of BS that the “elitist” contributors in the New Mandala like to peddle.that Baswedan is really smart and capable, he isn’t. He is incompetent and that is why Jokowi fired. His appointment to the Ministry was largely political. He is an empty suit, that can string together flowery words that can melt the hearts of liberal types in the West.

Jakarta is extremely difficult city to govern, I know because I was a consultant for Public Works during the 1990s. When Jokowi/Ahok ran for the position in 2014, they came up with a comprehensive plan to tackle Jakarta’s problems. This plan was drafted by themselves with the help of policy makers within the PDI-P.

Policies are a dime in Indonesia, domestic and foreign consultants have written enough project documents and reports about Ciliwung river that if you dump all them written in the last 40 years there would be enough to dam Ciliwung.

Nothing Baswedan has said of his plans convince me that he has a clue what he is talking about. Ahok has stirred so much controversy because he was willing to go toe toe to with the DPRD when they try to slip bogus projects past him. Will Baswaden have the political courage to do that? Nothing in his days as Minister of Education indicates that he does. Even if he doesn’t do that, does he have any track record of raising tax revenue. The key to Jokowi’s success as a mayor and governor was his ability to raise tax revenue. Jokowi effectively doubled tax revenue in Jakarta during the 18 months he was effectively Governor of Jakarta. When he was mayor of Solo, revenue generation growth was double that of the Indonesia average for district and municipal tax revenue after inflation.

Baswedan talks about expenditure realization, that its low under Jokowi and Ahok. Spending a lot of money on conferences, $20000 UPS is an indication of progress than Baswedan is a good candidate. Basweden has suggested the following

As governor of Jakarta he doesn’t have the authority to legalize. , especially settlements along the river bank, because that land belongs to the Government of Indonesia (Central), and involves several central government departments). its an empty promise.